Earlier this week a man armed with a grenade was apprehended in an Israeli village near Gazan border.

IDF vehicle along Gaza border fence 370.
(photo credit:REUTERS)

The IDF has dismissed two soldiers and placed several others on trial for a series of failures that allowed a terrorist armed with a grenade to infiltrate southern Israel from Gaza on Sunday.

The terrorist was apprehended by a civilian security officer working for a local village, who found him between moshavs Yaded and Sde Avraham, near the Gazan border.

The IDF’s investigation into the incident, conducted by OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Sami Turgeman, found failures in the conduct of IDF units “in a number of [security] circles” stretching from the border to communities, the army said.

Central lessons were drawn from the investigation, and have been applied “immediately” by forces on the ground, the army added. The investigation led to a disciplinary criticism that was added to the infantry battalion commander’s file. The commander is in charge of security in the area. An infantry company commander was reprimanded, and his promotion has been postponed.

A deputy infantry company commander has been ejected from his position, and a female operations officer at the battalion’s command center was ejected as well, due to serious failures in their conduct, the army said.

A number of operations sergeants who served in the battalion’s command center, a scout, and a soldier tasked with monitoring border security sensors will stand trial due to failures in their conduct.

Turgerman said, at the end of the investigation, that the Beduin Desert Patrol Battalion has gained an excellent reputation in recent years due to its many successes in securing the Gaza border sector, and it was therefore expected to perform better in the latest instance. Turgerman added that he was confident in the ability of commanders in the sector to apply the lessons learned from the investigation.